This invention relates to antennas, and more particularly, to antennas for electronic devices.
It may be desirable to include wireless communications capabilities in an electronic device. Electronic devices may use wireless communications to communicate with wireless base stations. For example, electronic devices may communicate using the Wi-Fi® (IEEE 802.11) bands at 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz and the Bluetooth® band at 2.4 GHz. Electronic devices may also use other types of communications links.
Many popular housing materials for electronic devices such as metal have a high conductivity. This poses challenges when designing an antenna for an electronic device with this type of housing. An internal antenna would be shielded by a high-conductivity housing, so internal antenna designs are often not considered practical in electronic devices with conductive cases. On the other hand, external antenna designs that permanently protrude from a device's housing may have an unattractive appearance. Conventional protruding antenna designs may also be susceptible to damage.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved antennas for electronic devices.